Do I Love You, James Potter?
by Bec-Do I Love You JP
Summary: What is it about 7th year that changes everybody? Sirius is intrigued about a girl who isn't usually his type, Peter has a girlfriend, Remus is playing mother hen and James is getting noticed by Lily...But will James notice Lily before it's too late?
1. I Can't Help Running Into You

A Fighting Chance

Do I Love You, James Potter?

_**A/N:**__** Here we go! The first chapter of my beloved, planned-out story!**_

_**Before we start,**_

_**Disclaimer: JKRowlingrock star. Everything Harry Potter belongs to JKR. **_

_**Here we go!**_

I Can't Help Walking Into You

The afternoon should have been perfect; sitting around the beech tree near the lake, no exams, no Snape. However, James Potter found a reason to sigh.

His three friends looked at each other, seeing who was going to ask him why he was miserable.

Sirius, who was lying on his side, casually waving his wand at a leaf making it change colours, put up his hands and mouthed, not me.

Remus frowned and looked at Peter, who was now feigning sleep at his gaze. Knowing neither Sirius nor Peter would give in, Remus returned James's sigh and uttered the question.

"_What's wrong James?"_ Remus rested his head on the back of the tree, preparing himself for a long whine from James. Now, it wasn't like James was an avid whiner like moaning Myrtle; it was just that he had a tendency to whinge when it came to a certain girl.

James finished biting his index finger nail, looked at Remus and started.

"Mate, if all the magic and knowledge in the world was bestowed on me, I'd still be an arrogant _toerag._" He finished his statement in a rather highly pitched voice, perhaps trying to sound like a girl.

"Prongs, maybe you two just don't…suit each other? I mean she doesn't, well, despise you…" Remus muttered, trying to be supportive.

Sirius, who was now finished with his leaf, spoke up.

"No, Remus, she just loathes, detests, scorns, hates and derives him. That's all." he laughed.

James and Remus stared at him.

"What?" Sirius said, "I for one think that was marvellously funny."

"Dude, did you swallow a dictionary this morning?" James inquired, forgetting about his troubles for a minute.

"That would be a thesaurus, James." Remus pointed out.

As his friends rambled on about Sirius's sudden spurt of vocabulary, Peter noticed a certain redhead walk out of the castle towards the lake.

Lily Evans didn't seem to merely walk though; she glided gracefully as if the path was made of clouds, not uneven mouldy stones. Her hair was gathered into a loose bundle at the back of her neck, with a few strands falling into her face as she came down the path. Even from where Peter was lying, you could see the faint flicker of sparkling green in her eyes. She was talking animatedly to her best friend, Judence Morr.

"…the quidditch match on Saturday? It's your first as captain, aye Jamesy?" Sirius's jibes interrupted Peter's thoughts.

"Yes, have you had enough practice yet?" Remus asked.

James stood up, smiling wickedly, "Guys; would the manly, masculine, marauder James Potter let a bunch of slivering Slytherins take home the first match of the season?"

"No, but the manly, masculine, marauder James Potter has a detention in two minutes that arriving late may end in his head being blown off." chuckled Remus.

A look of alarm spread over James's face, "Oh, shit!" Within seconds, he'd grabbed his stuff and was sprinting into the castle, robes flying and hair tousled in the wind.

Sirius snorted as James nearly ran into Lily Potter who dropped her books in fright. The marauders watched on as James stumbled over himself and tousled his hair.

"Oh, Lily! I'm so sorry! Let me-" James started to try and pick up her things.

"James Potter apologising?" Judence looked shocked.

"No! No. Just- go!" Lily spat at him, trying to gather her parchment from the ground in one hand, and holding her remaining books in the other.

It was now that Sirius decided to lighten the moment.

"And it looks like, yes, James Potter has managed to piss Lily Evans off even more. He's going for a conversation," Sirius said in a mock commentators voice as James opened his mouth to Lily, "and ohh! That's the hand up to his face folks! Ten points to Evans as Potter tries to even the score by," James tried to talk to Judence, "distracting Evan's team mates! Wrong move, and do I believe that's a…oh I never knew Evan's mouth could say such a foul word! My, my folks, it seems to be an interesting match today!"

Whilst Peter was wetting himself and Remus cracking a smile, poor James had remembered about his detention, which he was now more than five minutes late for.

"It seems Potters ending the game; he goes for a side-step and OHH! RIGHT INTO THE TREE!!" Sirius now couldn't talk any further for hysterical laughing.

James, it seemed, had tried to run around the mess he had created to get to detention, and gone smack bang into a tree next to the pathway.

Remus got up and walked over quickly to James.

"You, uh, alright man?" Remus said carefully, as he offered a hand.

James spat out bark and glared at Remus.

"Fan-freaking-tastic." James stood up slowly.

Lily, now had finished gathering her things, raised an eyebrow at James and Remus.

"Lily." Remus said softly, trying not to laugh.

"Ah…" Lily nodded, her mouth forming a slight O and then walked off with her friend, who was, like Peter, in hysterics.

Sirius jogged over, tears streaming down his face.

"Smooth move." he cackled.

Leaving Peter on the grounds, James, Sirius and Remus walked to the detention.

"Professor Macolmby; James, had an, uh, accident on the way here," Remus said as the professor looked at James disbelievingly, and Sirius went into another round of hysterics.

"So I see. However, that doesn't explain why you and Mr Black here," Malcolmby eyed Sirius, who was trying to gain composure, "have graced me with your presence."

"Well-" Sirius began,

"Nevermind. In this case, the more, the _merrier_. And, if I recall correctly, Mr Black is often Mr Potter's partner in crime and you, Mr Lupin, involve yourself with their antics. Come." Malcolmby led the boys to the Great Hall.

James, attempting to stop the blood flow from his nose by pinching it, and Sirius followed grudgingly, whilst Remus, attempting to restore his reputation in his Ancient History professor's eyes, hurried along beside the professor.

The professor stopped abruptly, causing James to walk into Remus and bump his nose.

"Nyahhh…" he whimpered softly, trying to avoid the professor's gaze.

"I assume you boys know the event being held here in two night's time. The Silver Moon Annual Ball? Even though now, it more of a _rave_," Macolmby said the word in distaste, "than a proper event. However, preparations must still be done. I believe the house elves deserve a break for once, don't you?"

"…yes Sir." the boys sighed, knowing where this was going.

"So, the next two days, I don't want to see anything but you three moving your little wands in here. Decorate. Conjure. Be _innovative_." Malcolmby began to walk away, then turned around with a smile on his pasty face.

"Starting now, boys."


	2. Glass Is In The Air

A/N: Second chapter, part one

**A/N:**** Second chapter, part one. Yay or nay? Review!**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JKRowling! **

Last Chapter:

"_So, the next two days, I don't want to see anything but you three moving your little wands in here. Decorate. Conjure. Be innovative." Malcolmby began to walk away, then turned around with a smile on his pasty face._

"_Starting now, boys."_

Glass Is In The Air

"You're kidding me." Sirius stated blankly, looking around at the huge hall.

"Don't they have _committees_ for this sort of stuff?" James said nasally, due to his hand pinching his nose to stop the blood from his recent run-in with a tree.

Remus took in the scene; it was so plain, they would have to stay up for ages making enough decorations and conjuring balloons. The floor was so dirty in areas that it would take hand-scrubbing, not magic, to get off the scuff marks.

"He could have at least given this to us earlier…"

"Well, in future I'll remember to set his eyebrows on fire two weeks before any major event Moony." James laughed dryly, as they began their work.

The doors creaked open and there stood Peter, in shock that they were actually cleaning something.

"I…what…_happened!!_" he gasped!

"Macolmby happened." Sirius spat, "Come and help us or I'll hex your only chest hair off."

Peter jumped and ran over to Sirius, taking out his wand.

"What can I do?"

Sirius had conjured a ladder, and was climbing it to get to the tops of the walls, where he was going to hang plastic 'silver moons' Remus has gotten.

"Use that thing in your head. Heres a hint; it starts with a B." Sirius said distractedly.

For some reason known only to Merlin, Peter decided to move the chandelier. James and Remus turned their heads to see what he was doing and it all seemed to happen in slow motion….

With an unsteady hand, Peter managed to smash the chandelier against the glass ceiling and a particularly pointy piece of shiny gold broke off and like a missile, went straight for Sirius's clenched buttock (as he was stretching to hand a decoration).

James, Remus and Peter all sucked in their breath as it zoomed closer.

Sirius's eyes bulged and he stood stock-still, hand shaking from where it was out-stretched. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, like his pain was too extreme for words to express and then slowly looked at his now wounded buttock.

"WORMTAIL!" suddenly finding his voice again, Sirius hobbled off the ladder, the piece still lodged in, hands out ready to strangle Peter, who was now running as fast as his little legs would permit.

James began to howl with laughter, forgetting his nose and the fact that Sirius was angry and had a wand in his hand. Remus joined in to and soon they were both beside themselves. Peter had just managed to escape Sirius and his wrath, by going into his rat form, slipping through cracks in the wall.

Sirius was now grinding his teeth and went to sat down-

"MERLIN!!" apparently he had forgotten where the pain had been coming from.

"Smooth move." James returned Sirius's previous insult to him that day.

Caught up in their painful, yet funny escapade, the marauders had forgotten that it was dinnertime and students were now entering the hall to eat. The first was none other than Lily Evans.

The look on her face was priceless.

Eyebrows raised, she looked around at the Great Hall. A huge ladder was on the floor, tables pushed skewif, glass everywhere from what looked to be a broken chandelier, pieces of silver paper cut into circles and was that blood on the ground?

"What…what did you do?" she whispered aghast, covering her mouth. Her other hand subconsciously drew her wand out, and she began cleaning up quickly, as Lily Evans hated mess.

The other students began to pile in and luckily most of the damage had been repaired, aside from Padfoot's, well, bottom. The marauders stood around him, covering his 'injury' from view as they quietly sided out into the castle and towards the hospital wing.

Lily found Judence sitting at their usual spot on the dining table. She quietly put down her books and bags, and sat. Judence hadn't noticed her presence, because she was staring at the few places Lily hadn't fixed up.

"Merlin…they sure know how to… I dunno… destruct things?" Judence said once she saw Lily.

"You should have seen it before. I thought Professor Malcolmby would have known what would happen if he left them in here alone." Lily sighed as she reached for the bread, "In seventh year and on the first day, they manage to do something."

"Still, you have to admit, they got style!" Judence laughed, "Its never boring being around them, you know? Like, I'm not friends with them, but I do potions in their class and whoa, let's just say things explode a bit!"

Lily wasn't listening though. Judence noticed a far away look on her face, and worried for her friend, she tried to break the silence.

"But, that Gregory over there, he's fine too!" she laughed uneasily.

This got Lily's attention.

"Why would I care who's 'fine'?"

"Don't you remember the reason Potter and his mates were decorating, or, trying to, the hall? Silver Moon!" Judence exclaimed!

Inwardly, Lily groaned. It took all she could do to not roll her eyes at Judence. The noise in the hall was building as more students and professors came in to eat, knives and forks scraping plates and glasses being slammed on the table, making Lily have to speak louder.

"You get so excited over it, Ju! You believe that the guy who asks you is madly in love with you, so you go with him when all he wants is one date! Then, ten days later, you're on the bed crying your eyes out over why your love left you!" Lily exclaimed. She was sick of Judence believing in love so much.

It's not like Lily came from a harsh background; her parents were married, and love her deeply, but Lily just didn't believe in it. With the quiet rise of Voldermort, people wanted to believe that had someone or something before they died. And that was just preposterous.

Love wasn't going to save you from dying. It wasn't going to get you Outstanding in your OWLS and NEWTS. It wasn't going to do anything but cloud your head with thoughts of invincibility.

Judence looked at Lily, and tears formed in her eyes. Judence was a pretty girl; she had dark brown hair that just fell to her shoulder blades and brown eyes that swimmed with emotion a lot. Judence was pleasantly plump. But she had a self-confidence thing; she thought she looked plain, ordinary. So whenever any guy took notice of her, she thought it was love.

"Oh, Ju… I didn't mean it like that…" Lily tried to pat her friends arm, but the damage was done.

Judence stood up and looked Lily in the eye.

"Fine then, Lily. You think I pick the wrong guys? Then _you_ pick my date this year." she sniffed.

"Uh…" Lily bit her lip, "okay…"

"The catch is, _I_ get to pick yours." Judence smiled through her tears.

People began to look at the two girls, wondering if Lily would agree.

Lily looked at her friend and remembered the last few years after the ball. Judence was so upset, so broken every time. She wasn't going to let that happen this time.

"Fine. You've got a deal." Lily said slowly.

What Lily didn't realise that Peter, who had noticed Sirius was gone from the Hall, had come back in and was sitting near enough to hear this conversation.

11.59PM THURSDAY NIGHT

With his buttock now repaired, Sirius was now not as murderously angry with Peter, though Peter still liked to keep a distance, hence the fact that Peter was working with Remus on conjuring decorations whilst Sirius was scrubbing the floors with James.

You would think, given the time of morning, the boys would be tired. But it was quite the contrary. On some sort of natural high, Remus and Peter were singing a rowdy song, taught to them by Peeves, and James and Sirius had made a game.

Both armed with scrubbing brushes and their wands, they lined up on separate sides of the hall, in sprinters positions.

Sirius's hand twitched in anticipation. James's legs shook every few seconds, waiting for the signal. They eyed each other, and turned their wands in their hands…

"GO!" shouted Peter gleefully, in mid-song, as the clock struck 12.

The tables needed to be pushed to the sides and the floor needed scrubbed. So in a stroke of genius, James came up with the game. The aim, of this game, was to see who could get the most dirt in five minutes, whilst charming the tables to block the other person.

James was winning so far, sprinting up and down the hall, charming his scrubbing brush to do its job whilst shooting spells over his back to knock the tables into Sirius.

Sirius, realizing his error, stopped trying to get dirt. Instead, he smiled evilly and waited until James was in a corner of the room.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Sirius yelled, and lifted a large table with this wand and moved his hand swiftly, sending it zooming in James's direction.

James looked over his back to see the table flying at him. He ducked just before it hit him, smashing into wall. And smashing his scrubbing brushes into smitherines.

"NO FAIR! THAT'S AGAINST THE RULES!" James bellowed.

"Mate, I can't help it if you can't protect your brush from danger!" Sirius cackled.

Muttering some naughty words, James got up and saw that most of the tables were, well, sort-of against the walls.

"Job well done, Padfoot." James decided to laugh as well.

Sirius and James walked over to where Remus and Peter were finishing making the moons.

"Whadda we do now?" Peter asked Remus, who was dividing the decorations into two piles.

"You and Sirius can go and wash the walls, while James and I hang these."

"Remus, old friend, may I remind you of the injury I sustained last time I work with _Mr Pettigrew._" Sirius ended threateningly, "And I hate it if something happened to make him suffer the _pain_ I did. And more."

Peter's eyes widened and he swallowed hard.

"Fine." Remus laughed, "You can wash the walls with me Padfoot, and Peter, you go with James."

As Remus and Sirius began the long process of shooting cleaning spells at the walls of the hall, which were tall and grimy, James picked up his pile of decorations and stood on the table.

"JAMES!" Peter suddenly excitedly yelled out as James was in mid-spell.

"Yes, wormtail?" James said monotonously (he was used to Peter's bursts of excitement).

"I heard something in the Great Hall at dinner! Well, Evans and Morr were having a fight, well no, not a fight, more of a friendly _tiff_."

Used to Peter's excitement over gossip, James zoned out until he heard something particularly interesting…

"…and then, Morrs said, you can pick my date only if I get to pick yours! Don't you see James; buddy up to Morrs and Evans is yours!" he finished.

James raised his eyebrow at Peter.

"For once, my wormy friend, you may have a point."

As the boys finished up for the night, which was now morning, they headed out the doors and as usual, James paired up with Sirius, telling him his plan.

"Isn't Morrs in our potions class?" James wondered out loud.

"As well as _Snape_…" Sirius muttered.

"Well, I rekon we should take our focus away from Snivelly next lesson and put it on a certain friend of Evans. Speaking of dates… who are you going with?" James remembered to ask.

"Haven't asked her yet, but she'll say yeah anyway…Jayda…That chick from…transfiguration?" Sirius tried to remember.

"Jayda Ferns?" Peter scurried over.

"What about her?"

"I, well, she asked _me!" _Peter beamed.

"You! You! Jayda Ferns is going out with…wormtail!" James exclaimed.

Sirius looked like he'd regained some of his anger at Peter again.

"You've got a date, rendezvous, appointment, engagement with Jayda Ferns! I thought she like me!"

Remus patted his friends on the back.

"It looks like heaps of things are changing this year. However, I think you've all forgotten the whole point of the Silver Moon Ball."

"What?" they said together.

"Head boy and girl are named. I think Lily's got it in the bag. However, imagine who'll be head boy? They'll have a dorm together and everything." Remus teased.

"Well, mate, your chances with Evans are looking even more shot." taunted Sirius.

James replied by kicking Sirius in the exact same spot Peter had lodged the pointy chandelier in before, resulting in a painful howl.

They had barely four hours sleep before getting up to their period one class, potions.

**A/N:** **Next chapter will obviously be potions class! Prepare for some 'snivellus' time! And, the chapter after that is titled "You Annoyed Me All Night Long (part one)", which is when the Silver Moon Ball begins! Stay tuned fellow ficers!**


	3. Ain't No Classroom Big Enough

A/N: Chapter three

**A/N:** **Chapter three! I'd like to give a shout-out to my super special reviewers- pippapear, TheTalkingCupcake and g.piz!**

**Disclaimer: Anything Harry Potter is JKRowlings, you know the drill. **

Ain't No Classroom Big Enough

Having climbed into bed barely four hours ago, the marauders were royally peeved at the fact they were expected to get up the same time as everyone else. They trudged out of the dorms, bleary-eyed and pale whilst everyone else rushed out smiling and laughing (much to their annoyance).

Sitting down at the breakfast table, Remus pushed aside his bowl and laid his head on the table, breathing slowly, whilst Peter rested his head on his arms. Sirius and James were the only ones to eat.

As they slowly shovelled food into their mouths, Sirius noticed a tall, blonde haired seventh year standing behind James.

"Hows the spring cleaning going, boys?" taunted Lucius Malfoy, raising his thin white eyebrows.

"It's not spring, genius." Remus mumbled.

James turned around and stood up slowly.

"Better than being a death eater." James's expression was hard and cold.

Lucius smiled, "I don't know what you're talking about Potty."

"At least my fun doesn't involve killing innocent people. And my friends are of somewhat a _higher grade._ I mean, Avery and Snivellus? I suppose, they'd be good for murders- one look at Avery and you'd die vomiting and you'd only have to get a whiff of Snivelly to cark it." James taunted.

"Watch your mouth Potter. Bad things have a habit of happening to people like you."Lucius glared at James, before walking off to the Slytherin table.

James sat down slowly, and the whole of Gryffindor were looking at him, and then began cheering. James, however, looked down and went back to his toast, his ears going red.

"You don't want to go off at Malfoy too much, James," Remus said sensibly, "For what we know, he wouldn't be afraid to do you in."

Sirius snorted, "You worry too much, Moony. James was bang on-right to give Malfoy a bit of what he deserves."

"Anyway," put in Peter, who was in awe of James' magical skill, "as if Malfoy could take down James! He's way too good for him! And stronger! Not to mention his amazing quidditch skills-"

James moved away from Peter, as Sirius laughed, "So, when's the engagement?"

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Only two of the marauders were in Period 4 Potions with Slughorn; and those two were the mischievous of them all. James Potter and Sirius Black were popular and always took the back table, no-one ever contested them, and everyone (well almost) liked them. So, as they waited outside the classroom for Slughorn, the boys thought talking to Judence would be easy.

On their way to her though, they crossed Snape's path. Remembering the reason they were going this way, Sirius sort-of tugged James along. James complied, though his hand twitched towards his wand and Snape narrowed his black eyes.

Judence was leaning against the doorframe, talking to her friend Larissa Stellar…

"…bought this gorgeous gold dress, really suits her eyes and her hair, you know? She didn't want to buy it, but it suited her so well, I just had to get her to- you got a problem, Potter? Coz I swear you were just eavesdropping on our conversation." Judence looked at James wearily.

"Ah, Miss Morr, looking at a beautiful lady can't be against the law?" James did an exquisite bow and then stood up again.

"I have a business proposal, if you please?" James beckoned her over. Judence glanced at Larissa bemused, before walking over cautiously.

"Now, I hear you and the lovely, luscious Lily are picking each other's dates for the ball, would I be correct?" James rolled off like a salewizard.

"I- what? How did you know?" Judence stuttered.

"Well, here is my fantastic one-time offer; hook me up with Lillian, and this wonderful man here will escort you to the ball after you drop the nerd Lily picks!" James beamed.

"WHAT!" Sirius exclaimed who had been un-interested in this conversation until now, "I mean, no offence, Judence…"

Judence surveyed Sirius up and down, a distasteful look on her face, "None taken. Also, no offer taken."

She went to walk away, before James realised what she'd said and jumped in front of her.

"Whoa, Judy-Rudy, don't be hasty! We can figure out another thing for you!" James laughed nervously.

"Give me a list of 10 things I get, hand it to me at the end of class and I may consider _thinking_ about your deal, with one condition."

James looked like he had just re-covered from a heart attack.

"Anything!" he cried.

"No Black. You can offer me a ten-day holiday in France with him and I won't accept." Judence stated and walked off.

"You…want a ten day holiday…" James said softly, feeling less confident.

Slughorn finally appeared and took them inside.

"Up-pa-pah! No, don't sit down!" he shrilled as they went put their books down. Sirius groaned and James rolled his eyes.

"Assigned seating today my friends! I want Cadwell, Laurens and Finster here," Slughorn bounded over to a new desk, "Jerry, Fudge and Malfoy near me, Black, Stellar and Robbins overrr there and Potter, Morrs and Snape at the far end! The instructions are on the board, time starts now! You will be marked as groups, not individuals." Slughorn, now over his burst of energy, tottered back to the professor's desk and poked through his bag for sweets.

James grimaced; true he now had time to work on Judence, but also had to try and not strangle Snape, which would prove difficult.

As soon as he sat down, he felt his temperature rise…

Snape had merely looked at Judence, but was staring hard at James.

He couldn't not do it.

"Sorry Snivelly, I really only let chicks drool over my looks. Your pal Lucius is behind me, I'm sure you could crane you neck to salivate over him." James smiled.

"I'm surprised the class could fit in this room, Potter. Yours and Black's egos are so big, I'm afraid they may burst the dungeons." Snape shot back, as if he had been practicing a come-back.

"OOOOkay, boys!" Judence said uneasily, "why don't you go and get the materials from the cupboard up the front, James-"

"He might need a map to get there." muttered Snape.

"-and Snape, warm the cauldron."

And so the lesson went, with James trying to scribble down a list between making remarks about Snape's greasy hair and talking to Sirius when he made his rather frequent trips to James' table. It was hard work.

Eventually, James finished his list with three minutes to go.

"Why thankyou for contributing Potter." Snape sneered, as James went to pass the list to Judence, "This is the most work you've done all lesson."

"That's not for your eyes, Snivellus." James warned as Snape went to reach for it, however this didn't deter Snape.

"Let's see: 10 Reasons Why You Should…hook me up with… Evans…" Snape finished softly, and suddenly his black eyes flashed with anger.

"Surely you wouldn't get your hopes up on Lily Evans ever liking _you!_" Snape said flustered, "You're an incompetent, useless, and egoistic insult to the wizarding world whose only talent is riding a tree branch in the air! Lily is sophisticated, elegant, smart and wouldn't date you even out of pity!" Snape panted.

Both James and Judence were looking at Snape apprehensively…

"And YOU," Snape shrilled at Judence, "Betraying her confidence, something you should feel honoured to have! Neither of you deserve her!"

Snape was now standing, looking very much in distress and the whole class was watching him.

"Oooh I think someone has a crushy wushy-" Sirius went to taunt Snape, but only got halfway there, as Snape whipped out his wand and shot a leg-locking curse at him before rushing out of the room, robes flying.

The classroom then stared at James.

"I must have intimidated him a bit," James smiled seductively at the girls, who laughed and swooned. As the classroom went back to normal, James slid the now crumpled list over to Judence, who was sitting with her mouth, still shocked by Snape's outburst.

"Here you are, Ju-ju. Try and not be overwhelmed by my generosity." James picked up his books and trod over to Sirius, muttering the counter-curse for Snape's attack.

The boys saunted out, and the class eagerly followed them. The bell rang a few moments after they left and Slughorn looked up finally,

"Class…dismissed?"

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Judence had only found the list again a few minutes ago. Due to the stress of exams, she hadn't had time to read it before now. She settled on her bed in the dorms and began reading Potter's 'business proposal'.

_10 Reasons Why You Should Hook Me Up With Evans_

_1. I would be the complete gentlemen, treating both her and her __**friends**__ with respect and duty all night_

_2. I would be willing to set up her __**friends**__ with any members of the school's quidditch teams (excluding Slytherin) Yes, I have power._

_3. I would personally throw Black out of the room if her __**friends **__require it. Stop looking over my shoulder Padfoot. It's annoying. And YES I did say I would throw you out. All is fair in love and war. Yeah, well up yours too. Back to you, Judence (sorry about that.)_

_4. I would never push Evans into anything she wasn't comfortable with. That means more dates, if you have a perverse mind like SIRIUS WHO IS STILL LOOKING OVER MY SHOULDER and think that it meant something else._

_5. When Evans falls in love with me, which lets face it, is going to happen, I won't let her forget about her __**friends**__._

_6. I have excellent reflexes, so if say a chandelier suddenly falls from the ceiling and comes near her __**friends**__ I would catch it and save the day_

_7. I would also be able to transfigure the chandelier into a pillow incase its too big for me to catch (which will never happen because I'm strong)_

_8. Say its Valentines; I have many secret ways to get into Honeydukes; I may be able to pick up some goodies too for her __**friends**__._

_9. I have a PhD in Snivellus removal, incase there is a infestation lurking somewhere, like NEXT TO ME…or Lily's __**friends**_

_10. I shall give her __**friends**__ a big cake if __**they hook me up with Lily. Yes, you heard right, cake. **__Don't resist the temptation._

_Fill out the attached form and put it in my dorm! Good girl. _

_Tick Box:_

_I agree to setting up Lily and James:_

_ Yes_

_ Sure_

_ Of course._

_I, Judence (don't know your middle name so I shall call you Bluebeen) Bluebeen Morr, hereby agree to hook __me __James Potter up with Lily Evans due to the amazing reasons above. _

_Signed, _

_sign here_

Judence had to admit, the note was pretty funny. As she began to ponder whether or not to do, even if it was just to piss Lily off, she heard someone coming into the room.

Lily dumped her bag on the ground, which made a large noise and jumped backwards onto her bed.

"I'm so hungry. Exams are stressing me out. I'm going to die of hunger and stress." Lily announced.

"Glad to hear it." Judence said as she hid James note.

"There is _some_ good news though," Lily said dramatically, rolling over so she could see Judence.

"Enlighten me."

"I found your date. He's smart, intelligent and a gentleman." Lily said proudly.

Smart, intelligent and gentleman sounded like a bore to Judence. She knew Lily would try and find her a boring guy.

"Where'd you find him?" Judence said unenthusiastically.

"Arithmathy."

"Yeah, well that sounds exciting."

"Like it or not, you made up this thing. So_ you're _going with him." Lily laughed as she walked into the bathroom to take a shower.

"Yeah well I FOUND YOUR DATE!" Judence shot back, scribbling her signature on James's note before running to the boy's dorms.

James was positively beaming when she handed him the note.

"You know, I'm only doing this to annoy Lily." She warned him, "Don't get any ideas."

"Oh Judy-rudy, don't be so pessimistic. You love me." James teased before going to show his victory note to the other marauders.

**A/N: Ok, so there's one more chapter before the big one, You Annoyed Me All Night Long (which will be broken into 2 parts.) It's called 'Let's Get The Party Stalled'. Does anyone notice anything about my title names? Yes, they're song titles that I've changed to fit the chapter. I have quite fun finding the songs before I start writing! Reviews please (or I may have to **_**delay**_** the next few chaps –evil laugh-)**


	4. Let's Get The Party Stalled

A/N: Last chapter before the Ball and the naming of the heads

_**A/N: Last chapter before the Ball and the naming of the heads! I know this is short EDIT: NOT ANYMORE, but I didn't want to put you in suspense for too much longer, however I do believe this chapter is necessary for the story. Enjoy, and review!**_

_**Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. JKRowlings genius!**_

**Let's Get The Party Stalled**

"…ow, ow, OW!" Sirius bellowed, as James began to throw books and shoes at him to wake him up.

"IT'S THE DA-AY OF THE DAN-ANCE!" James sung and pranced around, beginning to throw things at everyone now.

Poor Peter had just sat up when a History Of Magic book hit him square between the eyes, knocking his head against the back of the bed board.

Remus heard a thump and looked at his now unconscious friend, whose head was lolling to one side. Remus jumped up to attend to Peter.

Sirius now had a plan. He pulled the covers tight over his head to form a resistance against the objects being hauled at him and then waited for James to come over.

James, leaned forward, wondering why Sirius was suddenly silent. Creeping forward, he slowly went to peek under the covers when Sirius yelled,

"ARGHHHH!" and jumped at James, who nearly wet himself.

Satisfied with his friend's reaction, Sirius left for the bathroom. Remus led Peter also into the bathroom to check out the now quick-forming bruise on his forehead.

James was now alone.

"Does my happiness radiate too brightly for your poor eyes to cope with?" mocked James, who was slightly annoyed the others weren't joining in with him.

"..uck off…" came Sirius's voice, muffled from the shower.

James grinned; at least he had annoyed them. He headed off to breakfast without his fellow marauders.

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Lily Evans thankfully awoke more peacefully than the marauders. She yawned and stretched her arms, and rolled over, to where she could see the sun streaming in through the windows, showing the light gold natural highlights her red hair had.

Deciding it was time to get up, as Judence, Alice and Larissa were already gone, Lily slowly sat up and swung her feet off the bed. She walked casually over to the closet, and then saw something on her bedside table.

There was a single red rose, with two notes attached to it. The first note read:

A Note from Judence Bluebeen Morrs

_See, I told you I found you a date. He asked me to leave this for you to find. More romantic than the date you found me. I DON'T SEE ANY ROSES FOR ME. Maybe I'll get lucky and find an equation hidden in my cereal. I DON'T THINK SO._

_Love, Judence_

Bluebeen? Lily wondered…then, she read the second note, which was written in calligraphy on gold tissue paper. It looked beautiful.

_A Rose for a Rose,_

_The prettiest in the garden,_

_Where lies and deceit run like vines,_

_You, my sweet, remain pure and divine._

_We shall meet soon, _

_And may Merlin smile upon me,_

_As I see you at the Silver Moon,_

_And together we may be._

_PS. This may sound stalker-like. Don't get creeped out. Please._

'What a wonderful way to start the day…" Lily whispered smiling; how did this person know she loved poetry? Maybe Judence had found someone special for her after all!

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LATER THAT DAY

"It's nearly finished!" exclaimed Sirius.

This was true; the Great Hall was almost unrecognisable! The walls and floors were washed and scrubbed impeccably. Removable, silver film clung to the vertical surfaces like magical moss on a rock and stars and moons twinkled from above. The tables were moved again after lunch to the sides of the hall and were enchanted to fill up with food when needed. There was a dance floor where they'd placed a circle of silver film on the floor and above the now stage was a single, bright shining star that attracted everyone's eyes.

"We are good." Remus nodded, as Peter clapped his hands together and James smiled.

"You know," Sirius started, "I'm actually looking forward to this ball for once. No strings attached; I can cruise and dance with as many birds as I want without another one getting peeved."

Peter spoke up, "It's my first date…ever!"

"Seventeen. Seventeen and you've never been on a date." James looked disappointed.

"Well how many dates have _you_ been on, Prongs?" both Peter and Remus challenged.

Sirius and James laughed.

"Tanya Martin, Paula Opell, Venus Skys, Loretta Kings, Yasmin Luis, Henra Burgess, Pollyana Harolds, Deska Norweighs, Jean Sutcliffe…must I go on?" James listed.

"You mainly just snogged them, Prongs." laughed Sirius.

"Yeah, well, I'm not a true man-whore like you Padfoot!" shot back James playfully.

Peter, still enthralled by James's dating experience, wasn't listening to what James had just said, whereas Remus was concerned.

"What do you mean, true man-whore?" he enquired.

"Uhh, you don't wanna know, Moony…" muttered Sirius, who knew Remus was usually the voice of reason.

"I don't want to know, or you don't want to tell me?"

James cackled, "You know when we have to clear out of the dorm so Sirius can figure out things with his family?"

"Yeah…" Remus said.

"Well, he's more of _making_ a family, if you know what I mean!"

Remus gasped, "SIRIUS!"

"SHUT UP POTTER. No I am NOT making a family! There are chances though…" Sirius suddenly looked scared.

Remus sighed, "You ought to know the risks, Sirius! You haven't got a stable family life at home to even be considering the chance of having your own child-"

"MOONY! Why is it every time you talk about shagging you make it sound like my MOTHER IS TALKING!" shuddered James, who was now regretting blowing Sirius's secret.

"So you've _done it?_" whispered Peter, shoving aside his amazement at James to Sirius.

Sirius edged away from Peter, "You make _it_ sound like some creepy midnight ritual Wormtail…"

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Judence bit her nail she looked at herself in the mirror. The black dress fell nicely from her hips down. It was just the top that annoyed her. The dress had an annoying cut at the front and she was considering severing the strap when she heard Lily emerge from the bathroom.

"About time, I thought you'd drown- WOW! You look amazing!"

Lily was wearing a floaty, gold chiffon dress that was tight around her chest and then flowed out. The dress halter neck and fitted her perfectly. Her hair was gathered into a high bun with tiny bits falling out and her eye shadow was a very light gold.

"It's not too much?"

"No way!" Judence thought, Potter is going to die! Or more like Lily is when she finds out who I set her up with! Judence shifted her weight uneasily.

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It was fifteen minutes until the ball started and the boys were more than ready. Sirius and James looked suave in their suits without ties, whereas Remus had gone for a more traditional bow-tie and combed hair.

And Peter, well, he tried. Attempting to fit in with Jayla's canary yellow dress, he had gotten an outrageous yellow tie from Hogsmead. It almost looked fluorescent!

The marauders talked nervously amongst themselves…

"Wonder who Snivelly is going with?"

"Probably some poor house elf who's been ordered." laughed Sirius.

And on went the conversation.

Eleven minutes until the Great Hall's doors would open..

Eight minutes… until Head boy and Girl would be named during the night

Five minutes… until Peter would get his first date

Three minutes… until James would see Lily.

One minute…until everything would change.

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Judence had just climbed out of the common room and Lily was following when someone grabbed Judence's wrist.

It was none other than Severus Snape.

_**A/N: SURPRISE! Didn't see that one coming! **_


	5. You Annoyed Me All Night Long Part One

AN: Chapter Five: You Annoyed Me All Night Long (part one) is officially up

_**AN: Chapter Five: You Annoyed Me All Night Long (part one) is officially up! I sincerely hope you enjoy it! All I ask in return in a few reviews!**_

_**Disclaimer: You may have guessed it, but I don't own Harry Potter D: SHOCK HORROR, I know. JKRowling rock star.**_

"Oh my GOD!" Judence jumped as if she had been slapped by Severus, yanking her hand back as if burned.

Snape slammed the portrait shut, locking Lily in the common room, while Judence had a fit-

"She picked YOU as my date! YOU! YOUUUU! IF SHE THINKS I'M THAT DESPERATE I MAY AS WELL BECOME A NUN!" Judence choked out.

"Muffliato." Snape muttered quietly before turning to Judence, ignoring her rant, "If you care to pull yourself out of your little it's-all-about-me time, you would find that I am not your date and in no way will I ever be. However dates is the exact reason I'm here."

There was a dark silence and Judence's eyes flittered to the portrait and back, hearing Lily's soft voice on the other side asking what was wrong.

"Lily…" Judence realised.

"How, can I ask, HOW in the world we live in that involves logic, reasoning, intelligence, intellect and civilisation, did you come to the conclusion that Potter being Lily's date could have a positive outcome!" Snape said so furiously his words began to blur into each other.

"Get a life, Snape." Judence rolled her eyes and went to open the portrait for Lily.

In a second, Snape had whipped his wand out and was in a defensive position, daring Judence to continue.

"Oh, no you didn't!" Judence laughed, but it didn't reach her eyes, "Accept it Severus Snape; Lily HATES you. Like full on, I want you dead, go fall into a ditch, stop STALKING ME, I hate you, hate. And she's not the only one. You want to run around with your little death eaters fine; but don't expect her to still treat you the same. You're a monster. Lily is pure. And James, while flawed, is the closest male I'm willing to let get close to her. And you, Snivelly are the last. So, go on, I dare YOU to try and stop me. Let Lily see the monster in full swing."

Snape stared at her for a minute and put his wand back into his robes.

"You will regret this, Judence Moores. Maybe not tonight, but something will happen, sometime."

Judence just shook her head.

"I'm a target without your little shaky threats. So go and let me and Lily enjoy our night."

She wasn't sure, but Judence thought she saw his eyes water up as he walked off.

It was then that the charm broke and Lily's impatient banging on the door brought Judence back to Earth.

Opening the portrait, Lily scrambled out like a horse out of the gates, and tripped as she got out, grabbing Judence's arm for support.

"What TOOK so long! I thought you'd decided to ditch me!" Lily half-joked.

"I, uh, ran into Jared..." Judence lied feebly, and changed the subject as the girls finally began to walk to the hall, already late.

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While Peter had long run off with Jayla to dance and Remus had gone to talk to the Professors, Sirius had been assigned to baby-sit the sulking James.

"She's coming, Prongs…" Sirius groaned, sick of James after only thirty seconds.

"Oh _really Mr Optimism._" James huffed, crossing his arms.

"C'mon Prongs, enjoy all the pretty party lights. I had to go through pain to get them all the f'ing way up there…" Sirius said with a glare aimed at Peter, who was taking credit and accepting the lavish praise from Professors who were amazed that the boys hadn't done too bad a job.

James sulkily raised his eyebrows at Sirius.

"Pretty party lights?"

"You heard me brother. Sweet, sweet lights." Sirius looked at his watch again and caught James looking at him.

"If you're so sure she's coming, how come you're checking your watch every five seconds?"

"Because I'm counting down the time until I can get away from you." muttered Sirius under his breath.

The boys were seated near the doors of the Hall, with the other students awaiting their dates. Sirius noticed someone shuffle over towards him. Immediately, he wrinkled his nose. _Brian Prent…uh I hope nerd-ness isn't contagious…_

Brian Prent, a 7th year scholar, was shuffling over towards him, a grin spread over his features, which weren't too bad Sirius noticed uneasily. When did that happen? Prent had always looked like he'd fallen off the top of the ugly tree and had hit every branch. And the thick grey coke-bottle glasses, off centre part and wheezy voice had generally put the girls off him. But now, he was not striking, but a fairly nice-looking…_man?_

"G'day fellas!" he piped, in his now-broken voice.

James merely ignored him; even though James wasn't snobby, the Quidditch captain just _doesn't_ socialize with people like Prent. Plus, he was in a mood.

"Yeah…Hi…" Sirius muttered, surreptitiously moving away from Prent and closer to James.

"Who's you waitin' for?" Prent asked, and without waiting for a response, continued his own story, "I got asked by Lily EVANS-"

"WHAT!" yelped James, who was now listening.

"- to take her friend Jude…uh…Judy, is it?"

"Judence." Sirius snapped, while James relaxed after his quick heart-attack.

"Judence…what a name, aye? Sounds like Prudence…Anyway, I think once I gets on Lily's gooder side, she'll like, like me! I think she does anyway, coz we share notes for ancient runes and this one time she _looked at me _and I thought she was gonna ask me but I guess she didn't want to hurt this other guys feelings who she's going with- who is it again? I bet he's got nothing on me- probably some thick-skulled muscle man who has no substance for a girl like her. But I have substance, dude."

Apart from being horrified by Brian's use of the word _dude_, Sirius noticed James' eyebrows raise comically.

Prent then noticed James, "Oh you're the Quidditch captain! So cool man. Prent, _Brian_ Prent."

He reached over to shake James hand. James leaned over and grasped Prents' hand like a vice, and the tendons popped up in his sculpted arm.

"James Potter. Resident thick-skulled muscle man with no substance."

"Ah…" Prent yelped softly and massaged his hand when James let go.

"Just be…I'll just be going now…" Prent scurried off, hands shaking.

Sirius snorted and went to congratulate James when he noticed his mate's attention was elsewhere.

The reason was a standing in a stunning golden dress at the entrance of the hall.

The girls had arrived.

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Lily Evans wasn't used to this much attention. The whole hall seemed to turn and look at her and Judence as they made what she had hoped to be a discreet entrance.

It wasn't that Lily hadn't ever been pretty before, it was just that she was one of those girls the boys didn't really know how to approach; she was so intelligent, so reserved, so different. And now, she suddenly had the eye of every boy in the room.

Judence smiled to herself as she looked at her friends awed expression. Tonight was going to be a good night for both of them.

The music began again and people danced to the alternative music by Interpol, the song "Evil", which captured the mood in the hall properly.

Judence noticed Sirius and James standing over in the corner and began to walk Lily over…

"Lily-" Judence started quickly, trying to capture Lily's attention, "Lils!"

"Yeah…" She sighed dreamily, "I just know this night is going to be amazing-"

"-Yep, well about your date-"

"He gave me a poem, Ju! A poem!"

"-Great! Now listen, about your da-"

Too late. They had arrived over to James and Sirius.

James bowed and presented Lily with a single rose.

"_youuu…."_ Lily hissed.

"I tried to warn you!" Judence said exasperatedly.

"Care to dance, Miss Evans?" James interrupted their bickering.

"I-sure-what?" Lily was directed away by James, glaring at Judence as she allowed herself to be pulled towards the floor.

Judence then noticed un-easily that it was now just her and Sirius. Sirius sort-of nodded his head at her and downed a butterbeer, glaring at someone over her shoulder.

"Oh crap. I forgot to ask Lily who my date was…" Judence said more to herself, and looked around the room.

"O-ho!" Chirped Sirius, smiling evilly, "I'm just the person to help you!"

Judence looked like she had a bad taste in her mouth, "You? Ugh, well I suppose I deserve it, I gave Lils Potter and all…"

Sirius frowned, his ego bruised, "No…But thanks for the insight on your view on me."

There was an awkward silence and Judence had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing.

"He's over there." Sirius motioned to a tall, stringy character standing near the punch bowl with his butterbeer bottle, "Now if you excuse me, I have some serious business to attend to." And with that, he left curtly to flirt with some brunettes by the drinks table.

Judence made her way over to Brian Prent, possibly the most nerdious, geeky boy the world ever produced.

"You must be Judy!" He gawked.

"Oh. Dear. Lord." She groaned and reached for a butterbeer as he presented her with a corsage. This was going to be a long night.

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Lily allowed herself to smile softly as James led her gently to the dance floor. She hadn't imagined he would treat her so nicely; she always imagined he would treat her like a trophy if she ever agreed to go out with him. And now he was doing just the opposite.

"…So I was thinking, the presentation for Heads is at 9, giving us about half an hour to dance and talk and about fifteen minutes to down the food and drinks?" James offered his idea to Lily, as if he was seeking her approval.

"Yeah…Sure." Lily still wasn't sure of how to act towards James and timidly put her hands on his shoulders to dance.

"You look lovely tonight…" He said, looking down at his shoes, could he be, embarrassed? James Potter embarrassed?

This unnerved her and for a few minutes they danced slowly and awkwardly, lost in their thoughts.

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Remus clinked his glass to Frank Longbottom's as they sat in the corner, watching couples dance.

"To broken hearts and sorrows," mourned Frank, as he looked longingly at Alice swaying with some Hufflepuff 7th year.

"To being alone for the rest of forever." sighed Remus, and he downed the glass of light beer.

This tore Frank away from his thoughts, "Didn't Kylie Procopis ask you? And apparently Allimetra Damea was thinking about it too but she heard you weren't looking for a date?"

"Yeah…" Remus sighed uncomfortably, "…I wasn't interested…" he lied.

Truth was, Remus was very interested. To the point of he nearly ran after Kylie to beg her to ask him again; but he couldn't do that. Put a human in danger of a werewolf for his own selfish reasons of wanting a relationship with her. And now she was with Dan Pulming, a snobby Slytherin who couldn't care less about her. It made his blood boil.

Frank snorted, "Have a look at that will you? Sirius Black is getting hit on by Jayla Ferns whose supposed to be here with Pettigrew! Would you look at Pettigrew! Poor thing doesn't even realise what's going on!"

Remus looked over in alarm and groaned inwardly; Peter was holding the drinks and chatting animatedly to Jayda, who was blatantly ignoring him and trying to drape herself over Sirius, who looked like he was having a serious moral dilemma.

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Sirius couldn't breathe. He felt Jayda's hanks slink around his back and he stood rigid, unable to move. Peter, oblivious as ever, continued talking, while Jayda looked at him seductively, trying to catch his eye.

"Peter," Jayda cut into Wormtail's rant rudely, "Go fetch me some more…uh…pumpkin…"

"Pumpkin? There's no pumpkin here? But I 'spose I can go down to the kitchens and get some?" He chirped.

"Please do," Jayda purred, and gently pushed Peter away.

As Peter tottered off, Sirius found him self in a dire situation; always a ladies man, he'd never had trouble reacting to a girl's flirtations; he knew how to encourage and how to push away (though it seemed that Jayda wasn't going to give up easily). And now, he was faced with his mate's hot date who was so obviously interested in him, and his conscience.

"Uh…Jayda…I, I don't think this is the right thing to do to Wormtail…" he stuttered, trying to remove her arm from his back.

"Oh Sirius!" she laughed softly, "We both know I didn't come with him because I _like_ him!" She tried to resume her position around him.

"Why-why did you-?" Sirius stumbled, trying to escape Jayda's tentacles again.

"To make you jealous silly," she breathed huskily into his ear and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling them into the dancing ring.

Overwhelmed with desire and guilt, a lethal combination, Sirius paused as Jayda leaned in and Peter re-entered the room.

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After a few butterbeers, Lily found she was actually enjoying herself. James had found them a table near enough to the dancefloor to hear the music, but far enough away that they didn't have to yell to hear each other.

She laughed softly at James' joke about his friends, and found herself curling a strand of hair around her finger. _Whoa hold on! Am I…flirting with James Potter?_

Lily pondered this weird thought until she felt someone staring at her. She turned to see a tall, curvy blonde glaring at her through glassy eyes. _If looks could kill_…Lily thought uneasily. And then she noticed this wasn't the only one looking at her like that. Faces began to pop up throughout the crowd, looking, _hating_ Lily through watery-eyed glares… Tanya Martin, Paula Opell, Venus Skys, Loretta Kings, Yasmin Luis, Henra Burgess, Pollyana Harolds, Deska Norweighs, Jean Sutcliffe…all of them staring, glaring…

James noticed the disturbed look on Lily's face.

"What's wrong, Lily? Lily?" He said nervously; things had been going so well. Suddenly her posture changed from relaxed and flirtaticious to straight and guarded. Her smile faded into a frown and looked away from him.

"Just how many girls are on the _dated-James-Potter_ list?" She threw at him.

"Uh…what?" James coughed.

"So I'm just another name? Another thrill for the chase?" Lily spat.

James looked bewildered, "Huh?"

"And the next dance we have this year, I'll be one of those girls glaring at your next date through red eyes?"

Alarmed at where this was going, James looked around and saw then all glaring at Lily…_oh crap…This isn't where I wanted this to go…_

"You know what? I think I'll head over to Judence now- this was nice enough, but I don't want to be another name on another list."

Lily stood up and walked away, leaving James with his mouth wide open.

"What just happened?" he whispered…

_**AN: Part One! Suspense? Will Sirius give in to Jayda, hurting Peter immensely? Will Remus intervene? Will James get his dream night back? And most importantly, the whole reason for the ball; who will be named Heads? And don't forget, I've added Snivelly to the story for specific reasons; he will become a larger character in the plot! Reviews or I shall postpone the next chap! evil laugh**_


	6. You Got a FRIEND in Me Part Two

Disclaimer: Harry Potter doesn't belong to me if you haven't already noticed

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter doesn't belong to me if you haven't already noticed. All JKRowlings', for the odd person living under a rock who doesn't know.**

**A/N:**** I really do need some reviews on your thoughts about the chaps. If there are some aspects you really don't like, or really want included, I need to know so I can change the story to fit it. Sorry about the ages long update, but I really do have a good excuse. I promise it won't be this long again! **

"…twenty-six I said, I said it's worth no more than that, you know? And of course, Lily Evans just never backs down!" chucked Brian Prent, not even trying to hide his infatuation with her friend.

Judence Morrs sighed melodramatically and let her head fall back, wishing for the dance to end and the Heads announcements to begin.

_Three hours. Three hours she'd spent straightening, spraying, taping, shaving and accessorizing, and her date didn't even notice her name was Judence not Judy, let alone her dress._

Their table was in the middle of the hall and had ringlets of silver film decorating it tastefully.

_Whoever knew the Marauders had taste? _

Her thought sparked even more anger in her; here she was, at her very last Silver Moon Ball and she was thinking about the Marauders. She should be treated like a princess tonight, and yet she was acting like a parrot, repeating whatever Brian said and adding "you don't say" or "really?"

This was enough. Thinking about the Marauders future careers in interior design at her last Ball. Seriously.

"**Brian.**" She cut into his rant about Lily's amazing mathematic ability, resulting in an annoyed look by Brian.

"What?" He shook his head puzzled, questioning what on earth could be more interesting than the current conversation topic.

"This, is so, enough! I mean, screw modesty, I look fabulous tonight and you don't even care! This is our last ball ever, and you expect me to listen you drool over Lily all night! Come on!"

Brian screwed his face up as he contemplated the thought that perhaps he was talking too much about Lily.

"Okay, this is ridiculous, I'm leaving."

As Judence went to walk off, she nearly collided with a flash of red and gold, knocking her off balance.

"Lily!" squealed Brian Prent, jumping to his feet to help her up, ignoring Judence, who gritted her teeth in annoyance.

"Yeah, thanks Brian. Judence, can we-?" Lily looked uncomfortable when Brian held onto her arm a little longer than necessary, and pulled it away.

"Ab-sol-utely." Judence didn't even bother to say goodbye to Brian, as the girls headed off to an empty table near the back doors of the hall.

They sat down and there was a weird silence…

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"Okay, judging on your expression, I think we both agree picking each others dates was the worst thing I've ever come up with." sighed Judence, undoing the strap of her high heel and rubbing a small red patch that would no doubt turn into an ugly blister.

Lily raised her eyebrows, but didn't comment.

"Ah, are you not talking to me because I picked Potter?" Judence tried not to laugh at her friends expression.

"No. I'm just…undecided on a lot of things…"

"What things?" Judence pressed, curious on why Lily hadn't thrown something at her yet. If she'd tried to pull off the whole Lily-dating-James thing last year, she'd have a glass bowl hanging around her neck.

"It's just…When I found out you picked James for me, I wasn't really ready to, you know, not kill him? He's actually behaved like a right proper gentlemen and now I'm acting like…like…a _toerag_." Lily spat out the last word like it was a bad piece of seafood.

"So why are you over here then?"

"All these girls keep on staring at us, and I guess the fact that I wasn't used to liking James Potter and the heat of the glares collided and I…"

"You what?" grinned Judence.

"I may have freaked out."

Judence burst into laughter.

"You, the refined Lillian Evans, _freaked out_! My dear, what _has_ the world come to!" she hooted.

"Oh, shut up Morrs." Lily smiled back.

"You want my advice?" Judence offered kindly, as they got up to leave the table and head to the actual seating arrangements (Dumbledore had headed onto the stage).

"Please."

"Don't be afraid of this new James. I'm not saying pursue a relationship straight away, but, you know, feel the waters. See if you can accept actually not hating him. It may be weird and wrong and defy the rules of logic, but he has changed…And in accepting him, you'll have to accept his past too…meaning the other girlfriends."

"I guess I see where you're heading." Lily smiled and looked down, blushing.

"Good. Because now my date has officially disgusted me in all avenues, I must hunt for another before _the night is overrrr_!" Judence pranced off in true-Judence dramatic fashion.

Lily took a deep breath and saw James surrounded by the whole Quidditch team. He was smiling vaguely, but obviously searching for Lily in the crowd.

It was like a light was shining down on him and he was all she could see. This wasn't the annoying kid who followed her around in the common room, laughing at her insults and asking if she loved him between fits of laughter. This was a man who had the most stunning physique in the whole school, the most beautiful eyes and now, one of the most appealing personalities she'd ever met.

The whole room seemed to stand still and in it was only him…and her…like two lovers in a classic movie, she felt compelled to run up to him, confess her undying love, throw herself onto him and-

"Argh!" Lily startled, ripped out of her trance, as she felt something cold spill down the front of her dress.

She'd spilt her drink on herself. For a brief second of stupidity, she thought she'd drooled.

"Wet…" She mumbled, incoherently, as she snatched a napkin off a table and dabbed at her now ruined dress.

"Great!" Lily hissed annoyed, not only had she wrecked her outfit, but she'd lost sight of her soul mate.

Soul mate. Such big words and little time to ponder them. She had to find him and apologise before Dumbledore began his speech. She rushed around, searching for a table that had her name written on a tiny card…

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James, now over being rejected by Lily yet again, had wandered off from his friends to find his seat at the table. He was so over this night it was incredible. All James wanted to do was get some sleep for the big game tomorrow, the first game of the season. And the party hadn't even started yet.

Sirius bumped into James and his eyes darted around wildly, like a rabbit running from a bird of prey.

"Uh, you alright, Sirius?" James looked at his mate apprehensively. A troubled Sirius usually meant something was drastically wrong.

"She-claws-stranged-me-no-air-wormtail-pumpkin-ahh!" Sirus gasped, grabbing a bottle of firewhiskey from a passing student and downing it.

They found their table and Sirius continued his drinking until he felt he was drunk enough to relive his torture, slurring his words to an amused James.

The table began to fill up and Remus, Peter and Jayda trotted over.

"Remussss!" Sirius smiled gleefully and Remus looked at James.

"You let him get drunk?"

"He's had a rough night."

"Git." Remus said offhandedly as he sat down and Sirius attempted to hug him from the other side of the table.

"James aint the only one." Peter said menacingly as he poked Sirius in the shoulder, interrupting him from his want to hug everyone.

Sirius groaned inwardly as he saw Jayda holding onto Peter, a satisfied expression on her face.

"I tried to get away from her man! She's bloody impossible to escape-"

Peter sniffed, took Jayda's hand and said, "As if I would believe Mr Manwhore."

"Why don't you two sit over that side away from- Sirus stop acquainting the knife and fork!" Remus snatched the now wedded cutlery after they finished consummating their marriage.

Sirius sniggered and James rolled his eyes.

A quiet, trilled laugh from behind turned James' head. There stood Lily Potter, looking embarrassed.

"Can I-"

"Sure." James slid out the seat between him and Remus, for her to get into.

To his intense surprise, he didn't feel electricity spark through his body when his fingers touched hers for a fraction of a second.

And even more to his surprise, this didn't upset him. Maybe, after all these years, he'd finally come to give up Lily Evans. Maybe she'd been an obsession for so long, he hadn't examined his feelings in the past few months. He realised it had been habit that had made him follow and obsess over her. And now, to somewhat relief, it was gone.

James exhaled and smiled. This felt better than ever…

"James, I'm sorry for…running off. I've really had a great time tonight…" Lily started, losing herself as she stared into his eyes. She had to swallow, feeling hot and dizzy under his gaze.

"S'alright! I'm a bit over this night anyway. But it is good getting to know you- the _real_ Lily Evans." James laughed and went back to his conversation with Sirius.

_Whoa-whoa-whoa_! Lily panicked- why didn't he try to kiss her or even look interested in her when she came onto him?

"Wait a second," she pulled on James' arm to get his attention, "What real Lily Evans?"

"Ah, you know, you sort-of imagine a situation with a person, and then the reality is totally different. Like, now, I can see you as a good friend. A mate of sorts, you know? Before I had this weird illusion in my head, absolute bullocks. Reality is much better." James grinned at her and looked up to the stage as Dumbledore cleared his throat and the lights dimmed.

Lily couldn't breathe. She could feel hear her heart thumping like it was a huge drum and her face reddened.

_James Potter had just f-worded her._

_Friend._

_She couldn't think of a more rusted and dirty word that could rip and twist her heart more painfully. _

James, unaware of the intense pain Lily was feeling right now, took another swig of his drink, enjoying this new found freedom.

_**AN: So, Lily's fell deeply, truly and madly inlove with James, to the point of imagining scenes from old movies, only to be f-worded. We can all understand the searing pain shooting through her as she tries to make sense of this. Dumbledore is about to make a very important announcement that is the very core of this fic. This chap was very James/Lily centric, but really, I didn't plan any other major things to happen to OC's in this chap. Please R&R and you will find a new chap the next day! **_


	7. Highway to Heartbreak

Chapter 7: Highway to Heartbreak

**Chapter 7: Highway to Heartbreak**

**AN: Here we go! I hope I do this chapter justice…**

Judence had eventually settled into a table with Josh Bentley, a guy she'd had her eye on since first year. Quietly proud of her achievements, she looked over to see where Lily was.

It looked like everyone at the Marauder table was having fun (Sirius a little too much so…was he drunk?) except Lily. Her face was in shock, pain etched across her fine features. Her mouth was a little open, but not gaping, just surprised. She stared down at the ground and began fiddling with something in her lap. She looked embarrassed, self-conscious…but most of all…hurt?

Before Judence could run over, grab her friend and shield her from people's eyes, Dumbledore cleared his throat and began his speech. Judence, left with no alternative, had to sit and listen, suppressing the urge to sprint to Lily…

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Dumbledore looked down on the students with a sad smile on his old face. He cleared his throat and began his speech…

" Tonight I shall not say good evening students, though you still study at Hogwarts. The time has come, and perhaps too early so, but nevertheless, the day has arrived for you to be regarded as my fellows.

Or should I say night?

The party hasn't begun yet, and I can see on your faces you're just itching to get started…So I begin…Sitting before me are my able seventh years. I do remember, however old I am, the young fresh faces that stared up at me seven years ago. Excited, nervous, a little scared, but most of all, _innocent_. You were protected from the massacre outside; naïve and childlike, not knowing or understanding what was happening in the wizarding world.

And over the years, the killings intensified, became ruthless, callous, cruel. Some of you began to read the papers, listen to the older student's talks, worries. But then the exams started, the OWLS, and you were more worried about marks than anything else- at least most of you were." There was laughter as Dumbledore gave a crooked smile to James' table, who grinned back.

"Then came sixth year, with new Quidditch captains, House Cups, and the sudden urge to grow up, to become involved in the war that is dividing our world…Sadly some of you have drifted down the wrong path…" Dumbledore looked pointedly at the Slytherin table, but continued.

"And so you have sat down for the last time as careless young witches and wizards. When you rise, the year will truly begin for you. This year will test many of you and at the end of it, no longer shall you move through life without a worry in the world. You will be groomed to make a difference that is so _desperately_ needed in this world; for those who choose to take the easy way out, the dark side, I warn you now, you are up against a fair army.

No longer will we fluff around in life, no longer shall a child keep its innocence against the world. People are being murdered. Notice my use of the word _people_. Because it's not only those of wizarding ability who matter.

And we need to stop this massacre of souls, these senseless acts.

And those people who have proven they have the aptitude to do this, lead the new way, are standing in front of me."

Dumbledore looked at the mass of teens in front of him. It was so sad that such young spirits would feel the burden of war once outside Hogwarts walls.

"Which leads me to the whole point of this night. Listen to me prattle on! The Heads, the leaders of this movement, the guiders of our future, are none of than, James Potter…and Lily Evans!"

Dumbledore clasped his hands together and directed a small bow to the Marauders table.

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Lily felt numb. As Dumbledore went on about the war, and people looked up in genuine interest, she concentrated on containing the pain in her heart, trying not to let it rock her whole body. Suddenly, she felt people staring at her, and gasped as James gently grabbed her arm and led her to the stage.

Her? Head Girl? And James? Head Boy?

Hadn't she had enough pain tonight without this new promise of pain for the rest of her time in Hogwarts?

Surely the world had gone mad.

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James grinned cockily as he jumped up the stairs to the stage. Lily stumbled up numbly, looking awestruck at the mass of people cheering and whistling. Probably just stage fright, he thought to himself.

Dumbledore offered his hand to shake, but instead in his true style, James slapped him on the back and gave him a hi-5, much to the crowds delight.

He smiled out to the crowd, grabbed his badge, slapped it on, and was awarded another round of applause.

He looked behind him to see Lily accepting her badge softly and trying to get off stage.

"Come on, Lily!" James skipped over, grabbed her hand (she flinched like he'd shocked her) and leaded her to the front of the stage.

Performing a spell to echo his voice, James began his acceptance speech.

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"Alrighty! Pipe down, I'm trying to say something!

That's better.

Well, as the professor said, this year is gonna be huge. There's gonna be exams and wars and relationships…and Quidditch!

Most importantly, there's going to be times when we're gonna begin to fall apart, break down and split into two sides.

I'm here to tell you that if you need protection…if you need a hand…if you need to join the right side…I'm here.

Well, we're here. It gives me great delight to introduce my wonderful friend, Lily Evans!"

A police round of applause followed.

"So, I'll keep it short and sweet. You want to join the right side, I'll be in front of you, I _will_ protect you and I _will_ guide you.

You want to be a coward and go to Voldermort's side? I'll be standing in your way."

There was a pause before the crowd began clapping again. It was weird to them seeing James be serious. As the Heads resumed their place at the tables, people watched them with a new found awe.

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Lily skipped the parties and went straight to the dorms, almost begging with herself that this couldn't be happening.

Surely she couldn't fall inlove, have her heart broken and be made to live with her unrequited love, all in one night.

It was just too wrong. Too cruel. Too real for her to handle.

Finally, she reached the dorms and sitting on her bed was Judence.

Even though Judence didn't know what was wrong, she held Lily and stoked her hair while she cried.

Eventually, Lily looked up and noticed suddenly that all her things were gone from the room.

"The elves moved your stuff love, while we were at the party…You have to go to the Heads dorm…" Judence tried to break the truth softly.

Lily nodded and just sat there hugging her friend. After about an hour, Judence got up and wiped the remaining tears from her friend's eyes.

Lily found her voice.

"He said he's glad he sees me as a friend now…And the git says it after I've fallen down the deep freaking-endless pit of love…It feels like I can't live without him, but like I can't live with him, knowing he doesn't love me back…I would jump in front of a killing curse for him…I love him so much it hurts…" Lily whimpered her head in her hands.

Judence didn't know what to do. Even when she'd been upset after her boyfriends left her, she'd never been like Lily was now…

Seeing Lily so broken, so utterly wrecked, Judence felt like her own heart was bleeding, like her own world had been shattered…

She needed to go into damage control. With the time ticking, she needed to start now.

"Okay, Lils, look at me.

This is the reality. It hurts. It sucks. It feels like you're about to die but not quite there. The torture; it's gonna last awhile.

But we can recover at the same time.

Get you out of this dress; take off this make-up and forgetting this night is step number one.

Number two; you're head girl. Take that into account. Focus on your duties and your studies, and only that. Shove the heartbreak aside for a little and you'll find it'll just become a numbing sting rather than a gaping slash.

Step three; win James back. I don't really want to discuss seduction techniques at the moment, with you so depressed, but just be _Lily_ around him. Can you do that?"

Lily sniffed, rubbed her eyes and stood up.

"Thankyou Judence."

Judence smiled. Lily was composed again.

"No probs. Now lets get you into some fresh clothes so you can go to the Heads dorm and get some sleep."

Lily began bawling again and Judence sighed. Apparently, Lily was not ready to be composed yet.

And she had a right to cry and feel sad. But she also had a responsibility to herself to try and be brave.

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James led his marauders into the Heads dorm.

Four gasps were heard as the boys looked around.

The only word to describe it was; magnificent.

There was a wide, oval common room, with gold thread carpets, rich red arm chairs and a warm fireplace crackling. There was a gleaming set of polished wood stairs. A plaque on the door to the right read _'James Potter, Head Boy, Quidditch Captain'_ in gold calligraphy. Inside was a magnificent king four-postered bed with cushions and quilts everywhere. A small fireplace was in the corner, next to the door that lead to the marble bathroom. His trunk was at the foot of his bed and his clothes placed in the dresser.

"Marvellous…" awed Remus, touching the panelled walls lightly with his fingertips.

"Well mates, Quidditch tomorrow. I think I've already partied enough to have a hangover, but still, I'm going to try and get some sleep for it."

Remus, Sirius and Peter pleaded with James, that they could sleep on the couch, the arm chairs, the _floor_, as this dorm was better than the common Gryffindor one.

James laughed, and shoved them out, literally.

He retired up to the bedroom. Not able to sleep, he stared out the window into the grounds, watching the mist set onto the glass. He hadn't heard Lily come in yet…

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Lily had found many excuses to delay her moving to the Heads dorm. By the time Judence had had to physically move her out of their dorm and begin the trip to the Heads, it was 7am.

Lily begrudgingly went this time, clutching a few of Judence's items with her that she wanted to take. Judence just wanted her _out_ and gave them to her.

When they entered the dorm, Judence felt her jaw drop. The dorm was just magnificent. Lily looked around and then skipped back to Judence delighted.

"He's not he-re! Must be getting ready for the game!" Lily sang.

The mood improved dramatically as Judence and Lily explored the Heads dorm. They were amazed at everything.

Eventually, by nine, Judence had to leave. She wanted to watch the Quidditch match in hopes of running into her new fixation- Josh Bentley.

Also, she _needed_ to get away from Lily. There was only so much she could take in 24 hours.

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Lily decided to have a hot shower and get dressed into something, not skanky, but more…flirty?

She'd decided that instead of moping around, she was going to, by chance, try and interest James instead…

Tucking loose strands of hair behind her ears, Lily smiled at the mirror.

Her soft red hair flowed lightly past her shoulders and thanks to the miracles of make-up, her eyes now flashed exotically instead of being a dull red from crying. Her jeans fitted loosely around her hips and her top flowed around her slender form.

She could do this. Just pretend everything is fine…not so changed.

Lily grabbed some homework and set to it on the couch, becoming so engrossed that at first she didn't notice him walk in…

"Hey, Head Girl!" James swaggered into the dorm, broom underarm. His hair was messy from flying and his body sweaty from the exertion.

Lily raised her head slowly, trying to breathe evenly when she saw him.

"h-Hey."

"Doing some homework? What subject?" James asked conversationally as he returned from his room, after putting away his broom.

"Umm…" Lily couldn't find think of what to say; her brain was blurring between images of James Potter hot and sweaty and the words BE NORMAL flashing across her eyes that talking was simply too hard.

What James did next nearly died.

He leaned over her, to look at the subject book she was studying. Though it was only for a second, she could hear him breathe in her ear and she almost squirmed in delight. He smelled so…manly? Like someone had poured a bottle of 'essence of masculinity' right over his shock of black hair and it had oozed over those muscles…

Lily spluttered as James said something she couldn't hear; she was too appalled at herself to listen to anything.

Eventually, she tuned in again to what James was saying.

"…totally was a foul, but somehow Malfoy seemed to get off. We won anyway, but it was mostly thanks to the chasers. The snitch didn't really matter in the end."

_Oh God_, Lily thought, _he has changed. Modest, James Potter?_

This made him even more appealing.

If possible.

"Congratulations." Lily mumbled, and got up to leave.

Just as she stumbled up, she stubbed her toe on the coffee table, sending her sprawling in classic clumsy Lily fashion.

With reflexes quick as lightning, James reached out and caught her, just as she was about to hit her head.

This sent them both falling to the ground, but at least no-one was going to hurt themselves.

Lily opened her eyes and felt that familiar blurry feeling she had around James and suddenly, her senses took over.

Just as she was about to make her move, James had jumped up, as if scalded and mumbled something about going to see the marauders.

Lily pulled herself into a cross-legged position, hugging herself.

Why did this have to happen to her?!

She wasn't his girlfriend. She wasn't his crush. Wasn't his lover or anything even remotely exotic like that. Now it seemed that by trying to cross the borders of a _friend_ she wasn't even a _friend _anymore. She was nothing.

Meanwhile, James Potter really was rushing to see his Marauders. The fact that he'd nearly snogged Lily Evans despite his thought-to-be-freedom had him all muddled up.

**AN: Big chapter there! We're getting to a climax and now I want your view: do you think the tension between James and Lily will, uh, resolve itself? Or will James try and stop himself from going down the Lily Evans path again? Will Lily deduce from James what she really is to him? Let me know! This WILL influence the next chapter!**


	8. Whole Lotta 'Love'

**Chapter Eight: Whole Lotta 'Love'**

**AN: May I just say firstly, how grateful I am for all the reviews I've gotten! It really does impact the writing of the story and seeing how many of you have read it, I'm convinced now to see this through until the very last chapter! So I dedicate this chapter and all the others to you lovely reviewers!**

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The Marauders lay on their backs, looking up high into the whomping willow. Having already calmed the tree and done the usual exploring of the shack, the boys had decided to sit outside, as it was too hot inside the confines of the haunted quarters. The heat of the summer smothered the boy's thoughts like a thick blanket, and only quiet musings were heard of the normally talkative males. There was one missing, and the whole group seemed to feel it. James' absence was like someone had cut the jugular of the Marauders.

Remus heard rushed footsteps coming towards them and looked over lazily. Whoever was running in this sweltering weather was off their nut.

Hair messy and clothes dishevelled, James Potter came to a halt just in time. Instead of giving his usual cocky grin, his face was a mixture of confusion and annoyance. Kicking Sirius and Peter on his way to wake them up, he sat down against the tree and continued his frowning.

An annoyed Sirius, now with a sore head, decided tact had left the building when James' boot collided painfully with his cranium.

"Well, what the bloody hell is it? I've got a headache the size of a troll and it better not be for nothing."

Peter stifled a yawn and sat up properly, looking expectantly at James.

"Lily Evans just very nearly freaking kissed me."

It all happened very suddenly. Within an instant, Peter's jaw dropped, Remus choked on the piece of grass he'd been chewing on and Sirius exclaimed, "What's the hell did you do? Tell her you were dying???"

Not too pleased with his friend's reactions, James scowled and spat, "SHE initiated it. I reckon if I hadn't left in time, the bird would have been all over me."

"You left?" Now over his choking spree, Remus took over James' confused expression.

"I just- I don't know. I don't know how to explain what's going on right now…"

"Well, why don't we explain it over lunch? I'm hungry and you owe me after bashing my head in."

The boys trudged up to the Hall, and began loading their plates with bacons and eggs, toast and more other wonderful things cooked up by the elves.

"So?" Remus prompted…

"Toast. Eggs. Juice. Bacon." James stated, and was awarded with slightly curious and scared looks from his friends.

"Very good, Jamesy." Sirius clapped like a two year-old.

"See, this is how simple life can be. You get what you're given," James gestured to his lunch, "And you live with it like that. You don't put sauce on it," James picked up the sauce bottle and squeezed, "And then scrape it off. And then decide you want sauce on it again. You make the decision once and for all on whether to have the bloody sauce or not."

James' lunch was now a red tomato mess.

"But what if suddenly, the sauce doesn't look nice anymore. And you're free. But then the sauce comes back, even more saucier and suddenly, you can _have_ it, but you don't want it because the sauce has been an obsession for so long," James was now squeezing the sauce bottle so tightly, it began to whine, "But you _can_ have it. So you need to choose before the sauce screws you around again and gets even saucier and suddenly is out of your grasp and-"

"-okay!" Remus tried to pull the sauce from James' hand while Sirius looked at him like he was crazy.

Luckily, the rest of the hall were focussed on their lunches and planning their Sunday afternoon, not noticing what would soon be referred to as "The Sauce Incident".

"Maybe…just maybe, we can talk about this in… less-foodlike terms?" Sirius asked warily, whilst pushing his lunch away from James' grasp.

"Guys, I've been obsessed with her so long, she became more of a habit than a…recipient of my feelings. And when I realised that, I was so happy, to, to get away from that. She was like a drug in some ways…and I was over my addiction…

"What?" Remus was totally lost- James wasn't making any sense and seemed to be talking to himself.

"Don't you get it, Moony? For so long in my life, it's been about her! And now, I have the chance to sort-of back track and live the last year of my Hogwarts life free of all this! No more worrying about other guys asking her out, any of that…"

"So you don't have feelings for her anymore?"

James was silent…

"It's, it's not like that…but I just can't go down this path anymore, it's taken up too much of my like. It's not her fault, it's mine for letting it go on so long when she clearly isn't interested."

"But she's interested now."

"Yeah, well… I'd rather let go of her peacefully now than end up losing her if we broke up."

"Let go peacefully?" Sirius scoffed, "You sound like a bloody bird Prongs."

James rolled his eyes and suddenly seemed to notice his tomato red mess of a lunch.

"Gimme some of yours." he tried to steal some bacon from Sirius's plate, who slapped James hand.

"Look at you! Bitch-slapping and all now," James laughed as Sirius scowled and bent over his food like a dog.

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"Oh, seriously." Judence groaned as she entered the Heads dorm.

Lily's hair was pulled into a sloppy bun, with strands falling out everywhere. She was in old sweats with bunny slippers on and surrounding her at the table were mountains of books she'd found at the library. Scribbling furiously at a piece of parchment whilst scanning a textbook, Lily barely looked up, mumbling a soft "Hey…"

"Sunday. It's SUNDAY and you're homeworking. That's wrong and immoral. Shame on you." Judence lectured as she looked through the books on the table with distaste.

"mm…" Lily still hadn't even looked up.

Judence sighed, knowing she wouldn't get a proper response for a few hours, settled into an armchair and began to doze…

_It was late on a Sunday afternoon. The air was hot and humid and many students were dipping their toes into the lake, hoping to get some sort of refreshment. Two sixth year girls were hurrying into the Gryffindor common room, laden with books. The first, a curvy brow-headed girl with a cheeky smile, collapsed into a seat by the window._

"_Merlin, Lily, you hire any more books from the library and we'll have to employ a thestral and carriage!"_

_The second girl, a slender red-head with emerald green eyes that sparkled, smiled in response and she too plonked down into a sofa near the window._

"_Blimey, it's just getting hotter and hotter." she sighed, fanning herself with a blank piece of parchment._

"_Talking about me, were you ladies?" A cocky laugh came from the entrance of the common room. In sauntered the popular group of four boys who like to refer to themselves as 'The Marauders'._

_A tall boy with a shock of black hair gave a small bow, and gestured with his hand for them to continue._

"_Please Judence- tell me that by some miracle, that __**isn't**__ Potter and his band of gal-pals behind me." Lily groaned in annoyance._

_The insult didn't seem to even deter him a little bit. He grinned, stepping forward as if she'd given him fuel._

"_Alas, it is, my dear Lillian! May I remark on how marvellous you look today?"_

_Lily deliberated what to do- attempt and charm __**all**__ her books to go to the dormitory where she wouldn't have to endure James, or try by some means to get him out of the common room. _

_Deciding the latter would be more suiting, Lily rounded on James._

"_I'm wearing sweat-pants, Potter. I don't think they count as marvellous. Why must you waste your time annoying me? I can't ever recall saying I wanted my life at Hogwarts to be plagued by a guy who runs around on a broom all day."_

"_I believe it's called flying," James winked at her, "but doesn't matter if you __**say**__ you can recall it at all. You've had it written all over your face since you met me, love."_

_Judence and Sirius were about to burst from holding in laughter- James had gone one word too far- love._

_Lily was deadly quiet for a minute before whispering, "Call me love one more time Potter and I swear, swear on anything precious in this world that I will hurt you."_

_James, too caught up in the thrill of the chase, grinned stupidly. _

"_Oh, say you love me Evans. You so do, like-"_

_There was a flash of spinning neon light that hit James right on his throat. _

"_Ha- didn't do anything-" James stopped and massaged his throat. Why was his voice all high and squeaky? It had broken years ago! Yet, as he tried again and again to correct it, all the sound he could make sounded like a six year old girl. _

_Lily smiled, walked forward and cocked her head at James._

"_Do I love you, James Potter? "she shook her head, "I would dare say that you wouldn't hex someone you love. Bad luck, maybe the next girl you see will fall for your manly voice."_

_Lily and Judence snickered and walked off, leaving James to squeak feebly, "Cheap shot, Evans!"_

_The marauders laughed their heads off at James' new voice while he tried to find a spell to undo Evan's hex. _

"Judence? Are you asleep?" Lily's voice interrupted Judence's reminiscings.

"Not now," Judence grumbled, shaking her hair and wondering over to her friend.

Lily packed up the books on the table and was about to return them to the shelves when they returned themselves. This room was just so, magical! Laughing at her words, she began to walk up to her bedroom.

"I was thinking of going down to watch the Quidditch match this afternoon." Lily told Judence.

Judence snorted, "And since when did Quidditch interest you?"

"Oh, Judence, I've always been a fan," Lily winked and tried to find something to wear.

Judence shook her head and helped Lily.

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Sirius sat in the locker room, waiting for James to emerge. They had arrived early for the match and Sirius wanted a quick talk before the game.

James strode out, broom polished and ready.

"Uh, prongs?" Sirius started carefully as James looked at him, "I was just wondering… are you in the right, um, state of mind to play?"

James looked bemused.

"Well, mate, don't blame me but after the sauce-incidentay-"

"The sauce incident?" James snorted.

"Hey, I wasn't the one who went bang up crazy at breakfast mate. You can't blame me for worrying that this may affect our chances at the game."

James slapped Sirius on the back, "Rest assured padfoot, I won't belt out my internal conflicts in the middle of the game."

Sirius grinned, "Good man."

As the rest of the team trudged into the room, James began prepping the team to win.

______________________________________________________

"I am just so sorry, Judes. You are a wonderful person and it took me a little while to understand you, but now I do, I feel like we're kindred souls-" Brian Prent pleaded into Judence's eyes, trying to grab her hand.

How had this all started, Judence grumbled.

She had followed Lily up to the stands, and no sooner did they sit down did Brian Prent pop up and sit beside her.

While Lily drooled over a blur zooming around on a stick, Judence was enduring Brian Prent confess his undying love for her-

"- you're just so amazing, Judence."

Judence snatched her hand from Prent and spat at him "Ok, enough lover-boy. Sorry, but your not my type. And don't-" she snapped as he went to interrupt, " say our destinies are wrapped or wound together. You do and I swear I will jump off this grandstand.

Prent's bottom lip quivered and he sat in silence a little too close to her.

After a few moments, it was too much for him.

"Can I wait for you?"

"Wait for me where?" snapped Judence.

"For you to realise how much we suit each-"

Judence groaned and grabbed her scarf and bag, stomping down the stairs and dragging Lily in tow. She was almost shaking with anger as she waited in the common room for the party celebrating Gryffindors win.

______________________________________________________

Sirius swagged down a butterbeer on the way to the party. Grinning like a fool, he saw Brian Prent scurrying around looking for someone. He burst into tears from laughing so hard. Oh, life was good.

He followed James into the common room and he felt someone grab his ear.

"Ow, ow, OW!" Sirius yelped as a short, brunette chick dragged him across the room.

Letting go of him, she glared before beginning to yell.

"Oh, FUN-ney Black, giving Prent a love potion! He's been annoying the crap out of me all day and all you can do is laugh!" Judence was fuming.

"It was pretty funny, wasn't it?" Sirius snickered.

Judence just shook her head and continued her rant at him.

______________________________________________________

Parties were supposed to be fun. This party was not fun, Lily thought.

Not only was James avoiding her like the plague, but Judence had ditched her to go and deal with Sirius.

Lily sighed, watching them fight. Not too long ago, it would have been her and James bickering to the amusement of the crowd.

She heard someone walk up behind her. Turning around, she saw a guy she'd never noticed.

Tall, well-built and muscular, a blonde-headed seventh year smiled at her.

Lily struggled to find words.

"Hello, I'm Roman Benekoh. Just came to Hogwarts this year," the handsome guy introduced himself, "You must be Lily Evans."

Lily, flattered by this gorgeous man, stuttered, "How, how did you know?"

"Oh Miss Evans, I've heard all about your radiance," he winked before sitting down on chair he conjured, "Prettiest girl in Hogwarts. Smartest too."

Lily flustered and decided there was no harm in getting to know Mr Beneko.

______________________________________________________

Remus Lupin had finally gotten a chance to talk to James. Panting from his frenzied chase, he grabbed James from his Quidditch buddies and pulled him into a quiet corner.

"That thing you said," Remus sucked in air, and started again, "What you said this morning; about giving up Lily and all, you meant it?"

"I mean I want to be friends with her, yeah." James looked confused.

"And that's all? Just friends?" Remus pressed on.

"I- yeah, I guess."

"No, James, you have to make up your mind now." Remus said urgently.

"What- why?" James tried to get a look around Remus to see what was going on.

"James!" Remus got his attention, "You need to make a decision now on what to do, and you need to stick to it. Do you want to be with Lily or not?"

James looked worried, and bit his lip.

"I…"

"James!"

"No, I don't. I just want to be friends."

Remus looked relieved and nodded his head.

"Why?" James asked.

Remus pointed over to the portrait of the Fat Lady where Lily Evans and the new 'hottie' Roman Benekoh were holding hands, and sneaking out of.

"If you'd had said yes, then you would have had to get to Lily before she left with him." Remus looked at James, not knowing what to expect.

James was entirely expressionless, before draining his butterbeer and going back to his old dormitory.

He needed to think.

**Well, I hope you like the chap! Next chapter is in progress and perhaps a lot of important events will happen! Until then, happy fanficing!**


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